Staci Krause blogs about her life in law school.

Monthly Archives: July 2014

I’ve revamped this website to be about my current life. I still have that novel that I will probably someday finish editing, but writing has taken a backseat to so much else in my life. Well, fiction writing anyway. As a lawyer, I’m going to be doing a ton of writing!

I start law school at St. Mary’s School of Law here in San Antonio in August. It’s a very exciting time for me. My husband and two children are very supportive and couldn’t be prouder of me. I’m also about to turn 40.

From a very young age, becoming a lawyer was always on my list of careers I wanted to pursue. I was an argumentative young ‘un and it seemed a natural fit. Of course, me being me, I didn’t want to pursue that thing that I should do. So my life took a few side tracks. In high school, I wanted to be a lawyer, but changed my mind before college. In college, I started out trying to major in Biology and the Engineering. Neither of those felt right to me, so I finally ended up switching to Political Science, with the intention of going to law school. I even continued taking classes after my degree in Criminology (to the point I was one class shy of another B.A. in Criminology).

After college, my then boyfriend and future husband and I moved back to Ft. Pierce to save up money for the big move to Michigan. I had taken the LSAT and done very well. When we moved to Michigan, I had applied to Thomas M. Cooley law and was accepted, with a scholarship. It was in Lansing, though, and we lived a lot closer to Detroit. At the time, none of the law schools in Detroit were open (which some research now shows that both UDM and Wayne State are again teaching law). At least, I remember researching the schools and even trying to drive by UDM and discovered abandoned buildings. I can’t find any evidence now that those schools were not open, but I swear that’s why I had chosen to go to Cooley in the first place. Anyway, I decided to put off law school for a little while and got a job in law office. After a few months working at the law office, I concluded that I didn’t want to be a lawyer. This, however, was just me lying to myself very well. It was ‘too difficult’ at the time to contemplate going to law school so I talked myself into believing I didn’t want it.

Life after that has been quite an adventure. I had two children, both boys (who are currently age 11 and 8). If I had gone to law school, I don’t think I would have chosen to have children. I also was able to work 10 wonderful years in the game industry as a journalist. That experience was invaluable and thoroughly enjoyable. I have in my history now some experiences that a lot of people only dream of. In just one year, I traveled to 10 video gaming events, including: PAX, San Diego Comic-Con, E3, and a trip to Iceland for Eve Online’s Fanfest. And all of that on someone else’s dime, which is the best way to travel! I got to meet an amazing array of individuals from all walks of life, people I would never cross paths with otherwise. I even had some celebrity encounters, which I will treasure for the rest of my life.

I spent time trying out other careers, with varying levels of success (and failure). Nothing really stuck with me. I was searching for a long time for that thing which is the right fit. And finally, I have accepted that the career that fits me best is the one I always dreamed of, but kept putting off or denying that I wanted. I’m a natural born lawyer. My brain just works that way. So in February, I took the LSAT again and scored even higher than I did in my 20s. That’s a great example of something getting better with time! I only applied to the one law school here in San Antonio, since I don’t want to move from here. I was accepted quickly and given a scholarship, which has since been bumped up even more, taking a lot of the burden of student loans off of me. I’m very lucky to be at this stage in my life where I am a lot more responsible and able to undertake the challenge of law school. I look back to who I was when I was in my early to mid 20s and I know I wouldn’t have excelled as much at law school as I will now. I have the luxury of wisdom that only comes with age. That’s not to say there aren’t 20 year olds out there who are going to blow me out of the water. I’m sure there are. It just means that I am a better student at 40 than I was at 20 and I’m going to do better than I would have as a result.

As we near the start of the school year, I’m getting very excited. I’ve read a few books to prepare me for what to expect in law school. All law school’s teach with the Socratic method, which I’m looking very forward to experiencing. I plan on studying my butt off, but maintaining balance as well (as all books suggest) with family time, friends outside of law school, and my hobbies, which right now mainly consist of board gaming and watching TV. I’m so exciting, right?

I’ll periodically update this blog about my law school experience. It is primarily for me to go back to in later years, but if anyone enjoys reading it, then that makes me happy as well. See y’all soon!